Coherent sources
by Roo1965
Summary: "He did not want to die in the snow. He did not want his friends to die in the snow either." Written for the Shep H-cLJ Secret Santa 2010 for sgafan. Gen. Team. Spoilers up to 5.03 Broken Ties. 9,700 words.


Author's notes: For sgafan I hope this team fic fits the bill! It was a real struggle to write. Prompt at the end. Comma and hyphen wrangling by CoolBreeze1

* * *

**Coherent sources **

"_Strength does not come from physical capacity._

_It comes from indomitable will"_ Mahatma Ghandi.

**Afternoon…off world R&R**

Over the crash of waves, he could hear yelling. John Sheppard looked up, one arm wrapped round his surfboard as he battled the current. Squinting into the sun he saw a figure waving at him from the beach. _Dammit_. Time to clean up and get back to Atlantis, he thought with regret. He flicked his head to move his wet hair out of his eyes, pinched his nose and popped up onto his surfboard. The swell rose and fell as he rode toward the shoreline. He dropped a dozen feet from the sand and slid off, and with a practised movement, he had the big board under his arm. He waded through the surf and up the beach towards the knot of fellow would-be surfers and hangouts. He had to stifle the half-forgotten shock of not having at least Ronon or Teyla there, not even Rodney slathered in 100 SPF and grumbling under an umbrella.

"Everything alright, sir?"

"Sure. Why?" John asked worried, as he laid the board on the sand, grabbed his towel and dried off hurriedly. He tipped his sandals over, checking for bugs and scorpion-like critters and slid his feet in

"You've gotten a few scrapes…" The Sergeant waved vaguely at his mildly shredded hands, shins and the odd incipient bruise and handed over the jumper remote.

"Eh, wiping out happens sometimes Sergeant. I'm sure I'll survive long enough to get us home. Don't you worry!" he grinned. He'd barely felt anything from his twin abdomen scars, one still slightly newer and pinker than the other.

They were a small party of six taking the afternoon off. A mix of civilians and Marines and himself. Not that it hadn't been relaxing; it just wasn't quite the same. He kept looking for particular faces or expected a sarcastic or curious remark which didn't appear.

The Omshu, whose planet this was, were friendly curious people, much given to long worthy discussions and competitions. How they remained so upbeat and optimistic was a wonder, given that life-sucking aliens could arrive at any moment. Once Teyla and McKay got going in debate, everyone was happy debating the yin and yang of life, the Universe, and everything. And really that said everything right there. How often could they be themselves and not worry about betrayal or saying the wrong thing?

New stories or skills or anything interesting caught their attention. And they weren't grabby or didn't force people to share or do anything they didn't really want to do. If Atlantis wanted to trade food and medicines with them and maybe take up the offer of R & R in return for training and intel, then SGA-1 had had to step up to the plate.

The natives were skilled fishermen and could make nets like Ahab, and many of the women dived deep for fish and shells. Farther inland there were grain and cattle crops. They hadn't, however, considered surfing until he'd showed them the second time they visited. Luckily, the surf was up and he could give them a bit of a show. He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed it. It seemed like forever since he'd just _indulged_. It felt decadent. It felt wrong, given the crummy time they'd all had lately.

So after Teyla had sung, Ronon had shown them his knife skills and Rodney had juggled- yes, _really_- John had made a mental note to come back if they were allowed and when he had a spare hour or three. The place relaxed them and it made a pleasant change not to be quite so on their guard all the time. He hadn't realised how much he needed a break. Dr Keller had begun to make unsubtle hints about the last time he had a day off. But it wasn't just him it was all of them.

The last few months had been physically and emotionally draining- Michael kidnapped Teyla, he'd gotten lost 40,000 years into the future, and then the search team had been blown up. Teyla survived her ordeal and now had baby Torren. Kanaan had battled through the de-Wraith process and had recently relocated to Atlantis from the refugee camp. So Teyla was busy getting on with her life. Although she'd only recently re-joined the team, she clearly had her own priorities, misgivings, and agenda each time they went off world.

Ronon had physically recovered from being turned into a Wraith worshipper but had clearly lost some of his youthful exuberance and bravado along the way. Not that Ronon was someone you could call innocent as such, but he was different in subtle ways. John's nose and cheek throbbed in remembrance of the vicious punch Ronon had dished out while under the influence two weeks ago. Until Ronon was happy in himself, his inner disquiet rubbed off onto the others. Only time and a few well chosen words would get him through it. John wasn't going to force anything- he wasn't exactly a model for sorting through unwanted emotional baggage. Maybe he should bring up how he'd felt when Thalan had taken over his mind and body several years back. He'd better scrounge up some beer or local ale first, though.

McKay was in the labs a lot, tinkering on various projects with Radek, but since when had that been any different? Perhaps he'd also been more spooked than he liked to admit about Ronon being turned. John guessed he missed Clone Beckett, too, and was keeping extra busy. Rodney didn't deal well with emotional baggage, either. John had welcomed Beckett's familiar presence when he'd been stabbed in the gut by the baby Hive tentacle (and how often did he get to say _that_?) and Keller was being un- Hive linked. John missed Carson too- the wee drams, the bad jokes, the things his dear old mum had told him that he never listened to, but above all, the fact that he cared about his patients and told them the truth when they needed it. His brief re-emergence and sudden deployment to Earth only reminded them of the dear friend they'd lost.

All this served to remind John why he was ferrying like- minded beach bums back to Atlantis- R & R was over. Just when he'd gotten used to Colonel Carter, he'd been annoyed to discover coming round from his abdomen rebar surgery that she'd been shanghaied back to the SGC at no notice and relieved of her command. At first he thought it was the drugs he was on, but one look at Rodney's face when he said who the replacement was and he knew it was real. Colonel Carter got what it was like to go through the Gate and make friends and enemies, what it was like to lose people and what it was like to wait when all hope was lost. She was used to the weird, the freaky and the outright geeky stuff and going with gut instincts when common sense said 'no way'.

Richard Woolsey was a _suit _and not used to Atlantis as a city, or as an entity or the whole idea of what the inhabitants of the Pegasus galaxy thought she was or the Ancients. Add in the screwball mix of civilians and military trying to adhere to the rules, which were easy to read on paper and in debate in theory. Applying them in the Pegasus Galaxy? Not so much. Both of them were still figuring out how to work together- they had completely different styles. John hadn't quite got over Teyla's dithering over returning to the team, and Woolsey pushing hard for a replacement. He wanted his team back.

John wasn't looking forward to his in-box or the scheduled 5pm meeting he had with Woolsey. He was going to say loudly as many times and in as many ways as he could think of that Ronon wasn't a liability any more and didn't need to be sent to the SGC for questioning by the IOA or Landry or anyone- not if he could help it. Shaking his head in annoyance that his sunny mood had been trashed by his own brooding thoughts, he did a visual sweep; everyone was gathering up beach towels, cooler boxes, the volleyball and net, books and sun shades. He shrugged into a shirt and buttoned up half way, then flipped his towel over one shoulder and clicked the remote.

Bending down again he hefted the surf board under one arm and headed towards the jumper, which was tucked in the shade of trees several hundred yards away. Tracks led to and from it. He propped the board up as the rear hatch lowered. He saw that there was a fine layer of sand on the jumper floor. Maintenance wouldn't be happy. He headed for the pilot seat and put his towel down as his surf shorts were still damp. He sat down and his sandaled feet kicked something underneath the control panel as he did so. Something grabbed his left ankle and hung on. He jerked out of his seat in reaction. He could hear voices heading towards him. He felt a steady tightening pressure but not agonising pain. It didn't seem to make any sense.

"Whoa! Sergeant! Hang on, I'm coming out!" he yelled, carefully turning round in his seat trying to see what was attached to his leg.

Confused responses filled the air. "_What?" _

"_Why?" _

"_Why's he calling for a Marine?" _

"_Oh God, we're all going to die!_" (Rodney was obviously rubbing off on his fellow scientists….)

"_It's one of those bugs!" _

A disturbance at the rear signalled the arrival of the Marine. "Sir?" He had his P90 steady in his hands. "Fill me in."

"I seem to have picked up the local wildlife. I don't want it running around trapped in the jumper once I get it off! If I can get whatever it is off, I can't really see anything in here."

John carefully limped back outside. Torres fanned the civilians away keeping an eye on him and it. John looked down. It was a lizard with a torso and two pairs of legs, a long fleshy tail and brown and off-white patterned skin. It was about two feet long and its mouth was stretched round John's ankle firmly, dribbles of saliva gathering in John's sandal. He sat down on the hot sand hoping the lizard would let go as it recharged itself in the heat, but it tightened its grip slightly.

"It's not very big. Does it hurt?" Dr Hope, a botanist, if he remembered right, asked, a familiar Atlantean scientist look of wariness coupled with outright curiosity and fanaticism crossing her face.

"Not so much. But I'd still like to get rid of it without harming me or it. Kinda feels like I've been clamped on by an over- enthusiastic Labrador puppy."

The others had crowded round a little, and relaxed as there seemed to be no screaming or guns involved yet. Any moment now, one of them would want to take it back to Atlantis….

"Sergeant, see if you can find a stick and let's pry this thing off." John grunted as he squirmed round trying to see if there was any blood or teeth, not that he felt them if it had any.

Torres returned with said stick to the sitting colonel and the group around him.

"Okay, I'm going to carefully pry the mouth open Sergeant. You're going to put this stick in its mouth as I do so it's got something else to bite instead of us."

Moments later, John was free and the lizard thing blinked, gummed the stick for a second and then opened its mouth and dropped it, spat and trundled off, making them all laugh nervously. No marauding Momma lizard came out of the undergrowth. Meanwhile, their prize volleyball player Swanson (kitchen tech) hurried inside and grabbed the First Aid kit, dishing out wipes to John, and the Sergeant.

John waved away a bandage after using several wipes and a smear of antibiotic cream, wanting the open air to get at it. Sure, it looked a little red and puffy, but then his other scrapes were beginning to tingle with drying salt and sand. He could check with medical about tetanus shots and stuff later.

"Okay, excitement over. Let go home people!" he said as he stood up, gently testing his ankle. Seemed fine he could walk.

John rallied the group onto the jumper, Sergeant Torres having checked that there were no more baby Godzilla's lurking. John checked that they had everything, secured the First Aid box and his surfboard, and sat back in the towelled pilot chair, shutting the rear door. Moments later, they were back in Atlantis. He felt fine, a little adrenaline rush residue fizzing through his body. He was a little achy and a lot sandy and salt dried from surfing, but nothing more than that. There was no rending of flesh or huge loss of blood or anything dire.

Back in his quarters on Atlantis, he had a long shower getting rid of the salt and sand and found an old tube of antibiotic cream in his bathroom cabinet and used the last of it on his cuts and scrapes. He changed back into a clean black BDU uniform. He meant to check in with the infirmary about tetanus and whatnot, but since he had to hurry to his scheduled meeting with Woolsey, he completely forgot about it.

Several hours later, John stopped by the mess hall and sat with some veggie rolls, Athosian tea and a few aspirin for his body aches and tension headache. He hated meetings. He was not surprised to be dining alone at the team table. He'd missed everyone again.

_We're all out of sync_, he mused, worried. He headed for his office and did some paperwork and discussed tactics with Major Lorne about upcoming performance reviews. Later, he went to one of the rec rooms and half-heartedly re-watched some old football game, feeling vaguely out of sorts.

"_Sheppard_."

He jerked awake, his hand automatically moving to his holster even as he registered Ronon's tone and opened his eyes. For a split second, he was back on the Wraith facility with Ronon staring at him like he was nasty vermin to kill. He tensed then relaxed.

"Hey. buddy. What's up?" he yawned and rubbed his face, scrubbing against an early beard and blinking awake.

"It's late- you'll be good for nothing if you sleep all night in that. Early wake up call tomorrow." Ronon stuck out a big hand.

"Huh? Guess you're right. Thanks. I owe you one." He grabbed the proffered hand and pulled himself out of the saggy comfy chair that threatened to swallow him whole. He stretched, un-kinking aching muscles before joining Ronon at the door. They ambled in silence down the halls to John's room. He wondered what Rodney was up to, if he was still in the labs. John wanted to ask Ronon how he was, what sort of a day he'd had , but before he could form the words, Ronon gruffly said, "06.0,0"and turned around and walked away.

He let himself into the room, thought the lights up and sat down at his desk. He dealt with a bunch of emails and played Minesweeper for a bit. He showered again convinced he still had sand in his hair and slid into bed. He dreamt restlessly of giant lizards and dinosaur Ray Harryhausen type epic battles.

**Next day**

"There's no Ancient tech. No ZeePM, no outpost, and no weird anomalous reading from the rocks, soils, or plants. Why am I here exactly? And why did we have to come so early? It wasn't even light when we left Atlantis! I'm really asleep in my bed, aren't I?" grumbled Rodney as they popped out of the orbital Gate and veered towards PX73-34C hanging in space.

"Because I thought you might like to get out a little more, Rodney. You've been holed up for days now. You're an _astro_- physicist. This black stuff is…you know…. _space._ And you know the O stands for 'O_h-my-God-it's- early_', so it wasn't like you weren't warned." John deadpanned.

Rodney turned in the co pilot seat, stared at him and mouthed "Robin Williams?" at him. "Oh, har har. Just because you want to blow stuff up all the time, doesn't mean you have to involve me."

"But I _do _have to involve you Rodney…and Teyla and Ronon. It's what we do; it's what I do. Remember there is no I in team? And we're not blowing anything up. Well, not unless they want us to. _You_ were the one who made a bomb in high school. We're just checking in with long-distance friends."

"Huh."

"Do you not remember the roast they served last time in our honour?" Teyla reminded them all with a smile, diverting the conversation from escalating into an all-out argument. Food was one way to sooth the savage heart and never more so when dealing with Rodney…or Ronon.

"Oh, my yes." Rodney's eyes gleamed, then frowned suddenly. "Ronon ate more than I did."

"Gotta eat." Ronon said bluntly with a feral grin.

Rodney carried on bitching quietly, but John was glad to hear it even though the talk of food made him mildly queasy.

This was a semi-regular check-in with allies. They had half an hour flying time before they landed. The locals knew of the Wraith and had been culled in the long distant past and once a few years ago, but nothing much since. Still, they did get passing traders and Atlantis was just as keen to hear news and gossip as the locals were. Time for a welcome Intel meet and greet, even if it was overdue by many months. Everyone hoped things were alright planetside.

Teyla had reminded them that it would be heading for fall so they wore thicker jackets and packed gloves. The main land mass on Hensh was as large as America, Canada, and Russia combined with the varied climates and geographical features to go with it. The township they were headed for was nestled in a river valley with crop fields and animal pasture. They were surprised to see the mountains covered in thick snow almost up to the town. Strong winds buffeted the jumper as they descended.

"Hmmm, storm front's moving in," John said as the HUD flickered off again at his command.

Once landed, John took a moment to move out of the pilot seat still a little achy and sluggish from yesterday as he followed the rest of his team out of the jumper and walked to edge of town. He saw that Rodney immediately hunched into his jacket as the cold seeped in, but the warm welcome from the Chief more than made up for it.

"Well met." the man greeted.

John relaxed as they recognised Bilul still in charge, a big bear of a man with heavy brown beard to match. Nothing was more awkward or dangerous than walking into a coup or power vacuum. Social stability could be hard to maintain, but it did make for easier visits. That was also why the same SGA team had returned this time.

"And you. Thank you for your hospitality," John responded. The greetings were repeated for each person as a way of including everybody and recognising them.

"Winter comes unseasonably early this year, first wet and cold, and now all of this snow. This is a critical time with cows in calf for spring. The cows could get scour or pneumonia in these conditions. I'm worried about our more remote farm communities up in the valley. Those who went to check have not returned. If they cannot get to barns for the extra feed or supplements they'll need in this bad weather, the milk production may dry up and we'd lose everything."

"I saw there was a big storm front heading in. Can we help in any way before it hits in a couple of hours? Give you a lift up there and do a fly-by or three?" John offered, sure that the others would help in any way they could.

"I don't know how you knew to come today."

"It's Thursday," muttered Rodney. "I never could get the hang of Thursdays…"

Bilul looked baffled as John stifled a grin, recognising the Hitch-Hikers reference at once, and then wondered what that made him.

"Tell us what you need and we'll do our best." John said before he had to explain it to all of the non-Earthlings.

"I think that you came just when we needed you. Help would be welcome. Come quickly, let's go inside and let me explain." Bilul urged them towards his house.

"Despite the rain and snow, we had bumper huckleberry crops this year, and as a result, we have had many migrating birds stopping off here over winter to fill their bellies. How they'll cope in this I'm not sure, but some of them are big and good eating on occasion!" Bilur talked as he led them to a warm table by a fire and people rallied getting warm drink and eats.

**Back on Atlantis- same day**

Dr. Keller had completed updating her patient notes within a few hours of returning from the Omshu and had refilled the medical triage kits ready for re-use. She felt that she deserved lunch. Chatting with one of the servers, noting his mild sunburn, she found out that he too had been on Omshu as well- just on the other side of the continent.

"Oh the _beach_," she remembered with a smile as she referred to the bay they'd been allowed to use as R & R without disturbing clam beds or lobster-like pots. "Did you win at volleyball again?"

"Of course, doc. How 'bout you? What were you up to?" Swanson asked as he ladled soup into a bowl.

"Delivering twins. Thought they were never going to pop out! Not easy- a long, _long_ night. But it turned out alright in the end."

"That's great. Colonel Sheppard took us; even took his surfboard this time."

"Wow. Finally having time out! I'd forgotten he had that thing. Did Ronon go too? I hope someone has photos or video." She grinned, selecting a roll to go with the soup.

"Na, didn't come with."

"Oh." She moved up the line, conscious that she was holding people up. She made her way to an empty table thoughtfully. Ronon obviously still wasn't joining in like he usually did. Extreme sports outside in the sun would normally have had Ronon dragging Colonel Sheppard to the jumper bay within seconds if the Colonel hadn't found him first.

Some of her nurses joined her at the table and she told them about waiting in the village and the women talking about their men folk. That led to discussions of drinking and sports and animals. While she was describing the lizard like creatures the men sometimes bet on in pit fights or tried to avoid in the dry inland scrubs when they weren't fishing one of the botanists backtracked and stopped by the table.

"Did ...did I just hear you mention lizards?" she queried.

"Yes. Huge things, bask in the sun, carrion eaters, quick on their feet. Not good pets by all accounts." Jennifer looked up recognising Dr. Hope.

"Where was this?"

"Off world. Why?"

"Oh, that's a weird coincidence." Dr Hope said, frowning.

"You've seen some too?"

"After we played volleyball and were all set to come back, this lizard thing grabbed Colonel Sheppard's ankle in the puddle jumper."

"Volleyball?…it grabbed his ankle? You were on Omshu?" Jennifer said with sudden realisation.

"Yeah."

"Dr Hope, that's where I was, too- just a different area! Did this lizard bite him?"

"No, but it was just a little thing- not like the huge ones you were just talking about. I'm sure it'll be alright. He was fine. There were no teeth just a lot of drooling like a puppy."

Jennifer nodded grimly, not liking what she was just now hearing. She tapped her earpiece "Colonel Sheppard?" There was no reply.

"They're not here. A friend of mine saw them all geared up and heading for the jumper bay first thing this morning."

"Oh. You know how long they'll be gone?"

"No, sorry."

"Thanks anyway." Jennifer managed a tight smile, and hurriedly finished her soup and roll. She was trying to remember exactly what the locals had said about the lizards. Little lizards grew into big lizards…..Maybe the colonel had stopped by the infirmary yesterday and there was a blood test and cultures in the system to compare with samples from this morning's pre- mission check up. Maybe he'd been issued some antibiotics already. Or maybe not.

**Planet, hours later, same day.**

It was all over in a few heart-stopping moments. One minute they were headed back towards town for one last pass, and the next the world ended.

They had spent most of the day flying several clicks up and down the valley checking remote farming communities, ferrying food, injured or ill people, blankets, medical and cattle supplies. The farmers wouldn't leave the animals, which were half way through the breeding cycle and thus very valuable for food and trade.

The skies that had been clear and blue as they sped over the brilliant white trying to see dots on the ground as picked up by the HUD was beginning to turn grey. The wind hadn't let up much, either.

Sheppard skimmed the jumper along the snow- topped mountains in the late afternoon. It was the last go-around and John was glad of that because he was tired and the light was beginning to go. Energy had seeped out of him as the day wore on. And his ankle throbbed. Then again, he had been wrangling supplies and people and digging snow and he had slipped on the ice at one point.

Suddenly, one of the drive pods made a strange noise and something bleeped red on the controls. There was a screechy high- pitched jumper wobbled too close to the forest covered lower slope of the snow-capped mountain. There followed a dull bang and the jumper lurched violently.

"Was that us or outside?" Rodney asked agitated.

"Both" John said pointing out the window.

Time stood for a second, and then the snow on the mountain moved, sliding slowly at first then faster and faster with a rumbling sound, snow and debris flung high into the air.

"What is it?" asked Teyla.

"Avalanche!" John yelled fighting with the yoke and concentrating on HUD controls.

"Oh, God!" moaned Rodney.

Suddenly, a cloud of huge flapping birds appeared right in his path, driven up high into mad flight by the fury of the avalanche from the lower tree line. The jumper rocked from impacts, heavy thuds, and splats. There was absolutely nothing he could do against so many.

"What the…? Sheppard?" Rodney yelled anxiously

"Bird strike!" Sheppard battled to keep the jumper even, but although the inertial dampeners were working, the jumper was still lopsided either from the original drive pod failure or the birds. Either way, it was a problem.

"Drive pod's damaged, or it's retracted itself and won't engage!"

"I'll see if I can re-route power, or maybe reboot if we shut it off," Rodney half shouted over the discordant whine of the jumper, already tapping furiously on his tablet.

"Whatever, but do it fast! I hate to say this, but she's only going one way, and at this height. I can't turn around. We're heading further away from town every second."

"You mean we're going the wrong way?" Rodney shrilled, his voice rising.

"Sorry!"

Sheppard reduced speed, trying to look for somewhere safe and level to land the jumper. Then the other drive pod died. Stricken, they all looked at each other.

"Buckle up and grab on tight!" John commanded, frowning in fierce concentration, willing the jumper to go where he wanted it to. _Come on, come on _he urged silently.

He tried to aim the jumper towards a snow-covered plateau. It was still higher up in altitude than he liked, but he didn't have a lot of choices. The valley didn't open up and they'd keep going until they hit something at this rate. It was like flying a brick. The last thing he saw was the white rushing up at them. And then it hit.

**PART TWO**

Voices.

His head hurt.

His body hurt.

Voices loud, near and farther away, called his name and then someone touched his neck and felt gently round his head. He jerked as fingers found the painful knot.

"Whassssup?" he groaned. Where was he and what had he been drinking to feel this battered? He was going to put Lorne on KP duty for a whole month. Meanwhile, he was going to sleep this off a little longer.

"Sheppard! Wake up!"

"Hhhngh?"

He jerked his head. Everything shorted out for a second. He held his breath as he fought the pain. He tried again, opening his eyes and squinted, pushing himself off the control levers digging into his ribs. The view screen was cracked and everything outside was white. _Huh_. His blurry vision was captured by the red smears on the console.

"Careful, now. How is your head?" Teyla stood next to him, her dark eyes looking worried as she assessed him. He blinked slowly at her.

"Think I'll live." His brain whirled. Farms, cattle. Valley. Jumper snafu. Snow. Too many birds. Crash.

"Ahm, everyone okay?" he finally thought to ask as he gingerly leant back in his seat, his chest aching. He was glad not to feel the sharp pain of broken ribs, but he was bruised for sure. He was trying to focus on the finger Teyla was moving in front of his nose in lieu of a doctor's penlight. He swallowed hard against the threat of bile and breathed in and out slowly.

"I'm permanently disfigured, but at least I'm still a genius!" Rodney said through cut lips, the bruises on his cheek and forehead beginning to swell up. He held a tissue wadded up against his nose, which slowly turned red.

"Ronon?" Teyla asked looking towards the back of the jumper.

"I think the box that got the window hit me on the way past," he replied through clenched teeth, holding his left arm tight to his body with his right.

"There could be another avalanche. Do you think the jumper will fire up after your version of a Microsoft reboot?" Rodney asked him.

"Even if it would, we aren't space worthy with that crack. Besides the windows are all shut Rodney, we just need to exit and everything will be alright." John couldn't believe how unreal this felt, jokes aside.

"Teyla?"

"I am battered and bruised but unharmed." she said as she went to help Ronon.

"Get patched up, grab as much gear as we can, and let's move before this slides or we get trapped inside. We need to see exactly where we are." Ronon urged, holding one hand to the side of his head, blood seeping through. Teyla started to fit a sling for his left arm from the open First Aid box.

"We're on the side of a mountain. Lovely. How far is it to the bottom? Miles. How far away from the town are we? Even more miles" Rodney bitched.

"Then we had best start" Teyla said grimly, opening antiseptic wipes and Band-Aids.

John agreed with that and tentatively stood up to help but lurched to one side at the first step with a yelp as he fell to one side.

"Sheppard!" several voices yelled his name.

"'M fine, just stepped wrong. We're at an angle" he fobbed as Rodney helped tug him back upright, eyes wide with worry.

"I think you'd better sit down and let me check that ankle out," Teyla warned heading back his way.

"Yeah, okay. I do feel kinda off." He bent over to untie his boot. His head throbbed viciously and dizziness slicked hot, cold, and black through him. Someone's strong hands stopped his sudden forward momentum as he almost passed out.

"Off? We just crashed into the side of a mountain!"

"Sheppard!"

"Colonel? John? Stay awake" Teyla urged.

"Yeah." He licked his lips and eased himself back into the seat and stayed still as she painfully lowered herself to the floor and calmly untied the boot he pointed to. As she peeled his sock off, he was surprised at how cold her hands felt. She gasped in surprise.

"What? What!" Rodney peered over her shoulder, and John looked down at the revealed swollen joint and red marks heading up his shin.

"Oh, not good!" blurted Rodney, causing Ronon to join the huddle around him.

"I don't understand" John said shocked.

"How does something like this go unnoticed John?" Teyla reproached.

"I was fine yesterday!" he protested. "I swear!"

"You went surfing, Sheppard" Ronon reminded them.

"Salt, sand and few scrapes….oh…" he broke off as he remembered the baby Godzilla.

The tale did not improve with retelling.

"I cleaned it up- put antibiotic cream and everything on it!" he repeated.

"Yes, but I'm betting there's like a bazillion nasty bacteria in its saliva, and you said you had scraped skin from surfing." Rodney pointed out, hypochondria in full flow.

Teyla said nothing but passed him the bottle of heavy duty Tylenol and a bottle of water. As he struggled with the bottles she stood up and stuck the thermometer in his ear.

"Hey" he protested, but her mouth set in a grim line as it beeped and she read it.

"Well?" Rodney prodded.

"99.8F" she said, wiping it and tucking it back in the box.

Tallying of supplies and packing of bags, and scavenging of the jumper started with renewed fervour.

"We're sure about not staying in the jumper?" Rodney asked, looking a bit wild already with the dried blood smears on his face. John couldn't blame him really; being outside would be no fun at all.

"I'm not staying here. We have a choice between possible avalanche or a snow storm trapping us inside. This way, we'll get some miles under our belts. We need to be seen. We'll deal with whatever happens. We're running out of time, too. The light will be gone in another hour or two." Ronon said forcefully.

They set off, John leading so they could see him in case of problems and so that he could set the pace as the slowest party. At least they wouldn't lose him. They could swap around later. Maybe the snow would cool down the infection he was brewing. Then again, all this exercise might speed things up. He didn't have much choice between blood poisoning or freezing to death while they waited in the jumper, which might or might not fall off the mountainside.

_Jeez, John- way to be cheerful_.

0o0

John lurched to an exhausted stop, still in front. They'd been going for about an hour. He needed a moment, just one moment, to catch his breath and gather some reserve of energy in the dry cold. Rodney, on autopilot, trudged into him, almost knocking him over.

"Hey, mind the glasses!" John gingerly bent over to pick them up and put on again to mute the whiteness of everything.

Bitter sharp cold attacked his static body at once. His cheeks were numb with cold, his nose tingled, and his hands cramped in his gloves as he flexed them. Teyla and Ronon waded to a stop beside them. He looked down. His feet were in his boots somewhere in the deep snow and he tried to wiggle them, desperate for movement and warmth. He looked up again and smiled at everyone's questioning look.

"Just need a minute," he said his words pluming in clouds. He supposed that he looked as cold and pinched and snow drifted as they all did.

Briefly, John wondered if the others felt the same about drifting away from each other with SGC duties, Torren, and other Atlantis life minutiae. _This_ was not what he'd had in mind to get back together as a team. He did not want to die in the snow. He did not want his friends to die in the snow, either. The snow was thigh deep. It was exhausting to wade through and they were all a little battered to start with. Nightfall came fast at this time of year, and he wondered how much longer they should go on for before building shelter. The foot of the mountain and shelter in the dense tree line was many miles below in the gathering gloom…

"Teyla's probably doing better than us, actually, more fat..." Rodney said out of the blue as they all paused for breath. There was a silent intake of breath and John turned and thwapped him upside the head.

"Ow. What was that for?"

"What you just said, Mr Personality!"

He could see Rodney mentally rewound what he said "Oh, ah I didn't mean that you were fat, as such."

Teyla stared at him "I am pleased to hear it."

Ronon growled and John despaired. "No, I mean she's got more body fat, better distributed to cope in the cold than us guys."

"This helps us how?" Ronon butted in before Rodney got going.

"I'm just…. I don't know!"

"I forgive you Rodney." Teyla said with a smile.

John saw it and knew she was inwardly laughing at them. He knew that Rodney would never imply anything so ungallant; it wasn't in his nature- not where she was concerned. He guessed they drove her nuts, opening doors and protecting her when she thought she didn't need it. She was just as capable, if not more so on occasion, as they, but it was how they were and she just had to lump it.

"Thank you," Rodney replied gratefully and no doubt wondering if it meant he had to try the bantos training again. Or worse- meditation.

"I think we have about another hour of light. We cannot walk in the dark and we need shelter" Teyla said.

"There isn't any!" Rodney pointed out.

"Snow cave. Survival 101."

"Oh, don't remind me."

"You know how to build one?" Ronon asked surprised.

"Hello? Outcast to Siberia!" Rodney snapped in reply. "Yes. Well, in theory. I never actually had to make one in the field so to speak."

"I have." John reassured them."We need to build it on leeward side of a slope. Gotta be big enough for all of us, but not too big. Good thing the jumper has collapsible shovels. Take it in turns to dig. We get too damp and sweaty, it'll freeze and that means…"

"Hypothermia. And we have layered clothes" Teyla finished.

"Right. Don't forget the cold air pit."

"Is that important?" Teyla asked as Rodney unhooked the shovels from the sides of the packs.

"Cold air sinks. It'll settle on us. Pit will sink it away. Also don't block up the entrance" John instructed.

"Absolutely. No suffocation" Rodney huffed as he dug.

It was going to be close even taking turns. They were all battered and Ronon was one handed. John could only work in short bursts anyway. Finally in the near dark they crawled in, having put thinsulate sleeping bags down and got out their space blankets. They used flashlights for a while to sort out food, then turned them off to conserve batteries.

John reached up and smoothed the roof.

"What are you doing now? You should be resting. Take your pills!" Rodney ordered.

"Smoothing off the roof so it doesn't drip on us too much in the night."

"Oh."

They all huddled together for warmth in their bottom layers of clothing, hoping the rest wouldn't freeze too much. The flashlight went back on for a final round of first aid and triage and, then they all tried to get some sleep.

**Atlantis**

"Mr. Woolsey has Colonel Sheppard and his team returned yet?"

"No, Dr. Keller. There's still another hour to go." He looked up, surprised to see the young doctor in person. She was usually so busy in the infirmary.

"I'm worried that Colonel Sheppard may have a medical crisis if he doesn't get back then. Something happened when he went surfing yesterday and this morning's blood tests show some abnormal blood counts. I'm running cultures now just in case. That'll take at least 24 hours to run before I have some answers."

"It's that serious, Doctor? I take it he didn't report anything unusual. Aren't there protocols and procedures in place?"

"Yes, but sometimes what seems a trifling thing can escalate. I wasn't here and it's the colonel…."

"I see. One hour then. Perhaps Major Lorne would be the best officer to put in charge of any potential rescue or delayed travel on the Colonel's part."

"Thank you."

**Planet. Day 2**

They were all cold and no one had slept terribly well- perhaps a good thing in light of John being knocked out in the crash-but at least they were still alive. The wind had picked up over night and more snow had moved down the valley towards the town, making them all wonder just what they'd find if they ever got there or if anyone was looking for them. At the very least, they were overdue back home. The question was how long would Woolsey wait before sanctioning a search team?

Before they could get going, Rodney insisted they check for frostbite on toes and fingers. They carefully warmed cold pale fingers under their armpits and cold toes were resolutely planted on each others torsos under their shirts. They were all relieved to see them redden into a mottled colour. Not pretty but not in any danger.

John's ankle was still too warm, the red streaks spreading up. He was shivering even though his heart pounded, and not just because it was cold. He had a fever. More T3's were dished out for all and he picked at a powerbar. Ronon was suffering. The relentless pain of the broken limb and cold was dangerous for him too. Teyla and Rodney had aches and bruises all over as well. Today was going to be a hard day. They hoped for rescue but could not count on it and so they made plans for the day after that.

Make a plan. Keep going. Do something about the situation.

They crawled out of the snow cave and shook everything out, packing it up tight. At least it gave them an opportunity to walk around a bit and get warm.

"Sheppard? You okay?"

"No, Rodney. I ache everywhere."

"I hear you. It would actually be quite beautiful if it weren't so potentially deadly." Rodney remarked as he looked round. He grabbed for John's arm as he saw him wobble and fall to one knee. "Whoa."

John scrubbed some snow onto his face to wake up from the fog he was in. Suddenly, Rodney and Ronon pulled him upright.

"Did you ever find yourself in snow like this, Ronon?" Teyla asked as they set off.

"Once or twice. I was lucky to find a cave that blocked the signal. I waited out the storm and the Wraith. Just me, though."

"Well, this time there are four of us" she replied firmly.

0o0

John stumbled on in a haze, not quite sure who was ahead of him and who was following and how many. He never questioned the route or that they would make it. It was a feeling that surrounded him. When they stopped for a break he automatically held out his water to the person next to him, blinking when it turned out to be thin air.

"John?"

"Thought I saw…never mind."

They were still cold and windblown and miles from the town. In the distance, a dull grey white haze hung. A snowstorm probably. That would hamper scouting parties and maybe jumpers if the wind was right.

"Does anyone else have grit in their eyes?" Teyla quietly asked. Both Ronon and Rodney replied yes. John turned round to look at them trying to ignore the vicious backache that had set in. They all had slightly reddened teary eyes.

"I'm stupid!" he groaned, painfully shrugging his pack off and clumsily opening it up with numbed fingers.

"Well, only on bad days!" retorted Rodney "What's 509?"

"Prime" he answered automatically and grunted painfully as he dug out his spare black t shirt and started ripping it into three broad strips. The bending over and jostling motion was getting to him.

"Rodney, take these," he said urgently, thrusting the strips and his knife at him.

"What? Why?"

"Blind!" was all he could say before lurching two steps away and being violently sick. The little food and the pills he'd just eaten were now gone. He felt lousy as he rinsed and spat out water.

Snowblindness. How could he be so _stupid?_ He had sunglasses. It hadn't been full sunshine yesterday afternoon, but it still counted. Today was going to be a long day. He hoped they'd make it to the tree line later and could make snow shoes. The wading through deep soft snow was killing their leg muscles.

A little clarity returned. He kicked snow over the mess and turned back to his friends. Hopefully, it wasn't too late.

"Don't rub you eyes, no matter what. I mean it. You should try to make some cold compresses with the rest of the shirt to take the sting out of the burn first. Make slits in the strips to see out of and use them to block out most of the light."

He helped hold ice packs over Ronon's eyes while the others did their own. Then they tied the improvised sunglasses on, no doubt feeling foolish. Teyla made sure they topped off their water bottles with clean snow and tucked the bottles into their jackets.

"Cool dude and three Zorros!" he said as they set off once more toward town, the never ending goal.

**The town, late evening, day 2**

Major Lorne was frustrated. He'd been delayed from even landing the first time by the winter storm that blew in just as his jumper broke orbit round the planet. He could only get so far before returning to base and reporting in. The colonel wouldn't want him to risk his team's lives when it could be avoided. He knew that. It was just…frustrating being at the mercy of wind and precipitation. From the look on 's face, she had probably expected him to pluck the colonel and his team from the storm no matter what. Everyone on Atlantis wanted them back.

Hours later, he returned with more jumpers because the township would need manpower and shovels to help dig and one to search for the colonel. He landed and met with the leader who filled him in on the what, when, where, and why. He deployed the S&R teams and took Dr. Keller and a spare medic in his jumper, then took off toward his search grid.

The jumper hummed along at speed, Lorne scanning the HUD and looking out the window out of habit. His co-pilot's eyes were glued to the LSD keeping watch for sub-qs and the signature of the other jumper.

They went much farther up the valley than he expected before the LSD bleeped at last.

"Got them sir! All four bright and tight!" the Marine lieutenant shouted.

"Outstanding. Let's scoop and run." He glanced back at the doctor who was checking her warmer bags and IVs. "You hear that?" he yelled.

"Yes." She edged nearer to the exit.

"I guess we ask about the jumper later." Lorne said.

Lorne set the jumper down on the edge of a thick snow-covered forest. They zipped up thick coats and exited in a rush. Lorne and the LT helping the slim doc with the bags and the LT with the stretcher. They headed into the tree line. At first, he couldn't see it, but guided by the LSD, they found the shelter made from folded over tree branches and saw flickering flames from a banked fire.

"Hello? Colonel Sheppard? McKay? Teyla? Ronon?" he shouted.

Nothing happened at first and his gut tightened with worry. So close and yet….

He reached the shelter just as Teyla poked her head out. They all blinked at the black cloth round her eyes.

"Major Lorne? Thank goodness!"

"Brought the Doc and Lt Jones. How's everybody doing?"

"Jennifer? The colonel is very ill! He was talking about people that were not here and now we cannot rouse him."

"I was hoping this would not be the case. But I hope I'm in time, but I came prepared. What's with the Zorro masks?"

"Sheppard kept calling us that. Snowblindness." Ronon said as Lorne and the Lieutenant helped him out of the cramped shelter.

They returned for Rodney, who sat next to the Colonel.

"Come on McKay, let's give the doc some room. Sit next to Ronon for a minute. The Lieutenant is a medic too, so he can help patch you right up so she can concentrate on the colonel."

"Tell us what's going on! It's hard with these things on." Rodney pleaded. The Lieutenant replaced the black cloth with pads and bandages round three pairs of sore eyes and putting an air splint on Ronon's arm.

"She's fixing those sticky pads on his chest and hooking up the portable heart monitor. Now she's putting that thing in the hand for the IVs. Jeez, that's a big needle full of something. Hope that works. She's got him on oxygen. She's checking out his eyes and stuff, too."

"He had his sunglasses, but he did get knocked out when we crashed." Teyla piped up.

"Crashed? What the hell happened out here?"

"Not now, Major." Rodney said, subdued.

Lorne left the huddle and peered in, watching the doctor work. "How long?"

"Give me another few minutes."

Lorne returned to the other three, heads cocked listening out for him.

"Okay, listen up. The Lieutenant and I are going to walk you to the jumper. Let me place you here…. now put your right arm on the next shoulder. It's not far. We'll return for the colonel."

"Take him first!" Teyla urged him.

"No, the doc still needs a minute, and if he's on first, we still have to wait for you to shuffle in. This way I can take off as soon as he's in."

"Don't forget the snow shoes." Rodney said pointing vaguely at the shelter.

"Snow shoes?"

Five minutes later he took off with a full load, wrapped bandaged survivors hugging blankets and warm drinks. Ronon could take nothing by mouth in case they had to go in surgically for his arm.

Dr Keller and the Lieutenant constantly monitored the colonel all the way back to Atlantis and relayed updates to her emergency team. Lorne had done all he could. It was now up to the doc and the colonel to make it through.

Piled in a corner were the team's packs, snow shovels and a slowly melting puddle of snow dripped from four pairs of sapling snow shoes.

**Atlantis, two days later.**

Even though Jennifer had reassured them the mild snow blindness they'd experienced would wear off, he hated the reality of the bandages. Rodney still worried there would be problems. He couldn't help it. Nothing to do but wait for their eyes to heal and for their fingers and toes to pink up properly. Their vigilance had warded off life threatening frostbite and loss of digits. There was also nothing to do but wait for the colonel to come off the critical list.

They couldn't see the colonel, but they could hear the machines beeping and alarms going off and bustle of Jennifer and her staff all around him. The tense atmosphere seemed to have relaxed and things sounded less frantic. Restrictions were finally eased allowing everyone longer visiting times.

It was another day or more before he, Teyla, and Ronon could graduate to very dark sunglasses. They weren't mobile and Ronon was winged anyway, but there was no way they were leaving Sheppard on his own. He had someone there next to him as often as procedures and crises allowed, encouraging him to make it. Although they couldn't read to him, others did. Lorne came and read comics. Radek had rigged a computer version of Rodney talking and they'd tried it get it to read a book, but it didn't sound quite right. Rodney was convinced it would make Sheppard hide rather than come around.

Not being able to see made him hyper aware of the noises in the infirmary, but there still plenty of time to over think everything. The first long night back, as Sheppard struggled desperately for life they had talked amongst themselves. They were all sure they wouldn't have made it as far as they had without Sheppard. They had all contributed to their survival. It had been their blind fingers that wove most of the snow shoes while Sheppard had cut the sapling frames and fixed cross beams. Teyla and Ronon had conferred with each other about moss when they made it to the forest and Sheppard had found some. They had used it on the cuts and scrapes they sported and Teyla had wrapped some around Sheppard's wonky ankle. Something about it being an astringent.

Sheppard had been very ill towards the end, but some how he'd kept going in little bursts of energy. He never seemed to waver in his belief that they weren't lost, that they'd be found, that they'd make it. At times he talked to himself or to thin air, but he _was _delirious at the time. Actually, he seemed to play Prime Not Prime with one-sided answers. Spooky, but still- it was Sheppard. Freaky things happened.

It was his sureness, his blind faith - _ha_- that bonded the others to him. All for one and one for all.

A change in the machine's beeping rhythm and the twitch of a nerve in Sheppard's arm under Rodney's hand diverted him from his sappy introspection. Footsteps pattered over to the bed. Currents of air moved round them as a nurse or maybe Jennifer did doctor things and tweaked dials and IVs.

"Well?" he asked out loud since no-one was going to say anything.

"Temp's down half a point. His blood pressure is stabilising .The kick ass antibiotic appears to be winning." said Jennifer.

"That's good news," Ronon rumbled next to him.

"Yes it is. But he's not going to be with it for a while yet. He's lucky he still has his leg and suffered no heart muscle damage. He's still going to get a rocket from me for not reporting his little lizard encounter. This could have been avoided, or at least not half so bad."

"We didn't know these freaky things would happen!" Rodney tried to defend him.

"I know." She sounded tired. "I'm relying on you three to help him through his rehab and keeping him sane while he's in here for the next week at least."

"Count on it. It'll drive us all completely nuts as well, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He'll only dig an escape tunnel if we leave him alone." Rodney agreed, and he heard Teyla, Ronon, and Jennifer chuckling.

0o0

He could hear singing.

He wondered if he'd died. It certainly felt like he had. There were vague memories of feeling overwhelmingly ill and out of control. He could only lie there. He felt unconnected and a little worried. He didn't like not doing things, but his body seemed to have no strength. No muscles moved. One ton weights were holding his eyelids down. Too hard. Try again later.

0o0

Thirsty. He was thirsty. He tried to lift and arm and frowned at the lack of response, but something happened. A hand was on his arm and voices urged him to open his eyes. He tried to ask for water, his throat ached and his tongue had stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Suddenly, a cool melting sliver was pushed into his mouth, then another after a pause.

A light hand touched his face, wiping a dribble that escaped. He turned his face into the touch, desperate for contact for proof of his own existence. The hand moved to his forehead and fussed with his hair. It sparked a memory of his mom and then in a rush, flashing snippets of his team and snow and walking forever and a forest.

"What are you smiling about?"

He took another few seconds to really process the sounds and smell and the hum of Atlantis scratching in his brain.

He lifted his head a millimetre off the pillow and coughed. More slivers of ice. With a mighty effort, he dragged his eyes open. Bright light made his eyes water for a second, as he stared at his team. He frowned, confused, not sure if he was imagining being awake. It was like looking at a Blues Brothers reunion. Dark glasses all round.

"Sheppard?" Rodney prompted, worried when he didn't say anything.

"Yeah.?" he replied warily, closing his eyes.

"Oh, for heaven's sake. We're fine. The dark glasses come off in another day or two. Jennifer's being over cautious. We've been waiting for you to wake up."

He let out a sigh of relief and opened his eyes again. He felt a little more awake this time. He drank in the sight of them. All hale and hearty. All alive and all staring at him like he was a bug under a microscope.

He grinned. They'd made it.

"Hope that wazz Teyla's hand in m'hair!" he rasped.

Keller came and poked and prodded but he only had eyes for his team. So tired, but he wanted to stay awake

"Heard singing."

"I was here with Torren. Shhh. You need to rest."

"Tell me 'bout wha' happened. The jumper?" he was slurring badly now, almost gone again.

"Later, Sheppard. We'll still be here when you wake."

He counted on it.

END

Prompt for: **sgafan**

**Request:** I would like to see Sheppard and team off world, fighting for their lives. The threat is something native, human or animal (No Replicators, Wraith or Genii) and unexpected. Whump Shep of course, but I want him to be strong (or trying to be), still trying to lead his team and fight for them even if he's injured badly. Bonus points for good team stuff, an unusual but bad injury for Sheppard and heroic Sheppard.  
**Do Not Want:** Sheppard weak mentally (hey if it's the injury and he's still heroic and trying to be strong, that's great!) No Death!Fic or permanent maiming. Gen only please.

A/N 1 Robin Williams quote from "Good Morning Vietnam" What does the 'o' stand for?

A/N 2 coherent sources: .org/wiki/Coherence_ (physics) **Waves of different frequencies (i.e. colors) interfere to form a single pulse if they are coherent. **Two or more sources of light are said to be coherent if the waves emitted from them have the same frequency and are 'phase-linked'; that is, they have a zero or constant phase difference.

A/N 3 Hitch Hikers as in The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams comic British sci-fi fantasy in which Arthur Dent's best friend is really from Betelgeuse, the Vogons write awful poetry before blowing up Earth to make way for a Hyper Space Bypass and the answer to Life, the universe and everything is 42. Amongst other things.


End file.
